A local gun dealer said background checks are flawed after an area man was accused of fatally shooting his mother one day after purchasing a weapon.

When Andrew Leighton's lawyers told a judge his client was hearing voices, Monday's hearing was halted and a competency evaluation was ordered.

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Leighton is accused of fatally shooting his mother in the back of the head after investigators said she reached for a phone to call a psychiatric hospital to have him committed.

Court documents indicated Leighton purchased a .40-caliber handgun and ammunition at Cabela's in Scarborough a day before the shooting.

The corporate communications manager at Cabela's said the company followed all federal requirements when it comes to gun purchases, including the completion of a background check.

The form is six pages long, but the customer only must complete the first page. The rest of the form is completed by the retailer or gun shop owner.

"It's a form 4473 ATF form. They have to fill it out," gun shop owner John Reid said.

Reid has owned a gun shop in Auburn for 28 years. He knows the procedure when it comes to selling guns. One of the questions that is asked is whether the purchaser is a convicted felon.

Once the form is completed, Reid calls a toll-free number where FBI screeners determine within several minutes if the sale will be approved.

There is also a question about mental health. It asks whether the applicant has ever been committed to a mental institution and goes on to ask if a judge or other lawful authority has ever ruled the purchaser a danger to himself, herself or others.

But Reid said it's a question that's hard to prove and check.

"To my knowledge, there's, at this point, there's no way of knowing a person's mental stability," Reid said.

Even if the purchaser passes the background check, the retailer or gun shop owner has the discretion to refuse the sale.

"If I have any questions about the person's mental health or their sobriety, I don't even let it get this far," Reid said. "I take them right to the door and usher them out and that happens, quite frankly, several time a year here."

As for the Leighton investigation and Cabela's role in it, a company representative said, "We are cooperating with law enforcement in regards to the investigation."